Ideas, observations and images on the pleasures of Local and the impact of Global.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Time and Space

"Because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue center light pop and everybody goes "AWWW!"

- Jack KerouacOn the Road, 1957

No, it's not Australia in this little photo, with another case of the curious tourist; it is a poignant example of the dangers inherent in zookeepers jobs, for which I have a new and profound respect. Apparently due to the wonders of modern medicine, this vet has his arm back, and God only knows what has happened to the poor croc...

The veteran journalist Bill Moyers has a new podcast journal on PBS, freely downloaded on iTunes, and well worth the time to listen to his insight. His special called "Buying the War", a superb piece of investigative journalism on how the media rolled over early in the selling of a war without justification or strategy, has already has some pundits in Washington running for cover. It seems that Jon Stewart on his Daily Show is the only one that has the balls to ask real questions about what is going on in that country and its foreign "policy". And he doesn't even consider himself a journalist! Bill has a fascinating chat with this intelligent and witty comic. Don't miss.

Naomi Klein pulls no punches in her scathing analysis of the World Bank and it's head Paul Wolfowitz, another screw up from the Bush administration mired in yet another scandal that will hardly help the already shaky reputation as a credible aid organisation for developing countries. Yea right.

It doesn't take much digging to find out that the big 3 in development aid: WTO, World Bank and IMF are as Klein puts it playing their game of "one way strip poker" with World Trade.

You drop your barriers, and we will keep ours up, as the system goes. I guess the winners call that Fair Trade...

Tessa Mayes, of Spiked-online, after calling Vanity Fair one of the great icons of American journalism, rips into their latest Green issue, as a celebrity love-fest, complete with photo-shopped snaps of Leo and polar bears, and who is talking about what, rather than who is doing what.

Meanwhile...This guy has been quietly plugging away on the environmental issues that matter so much him, whilst becoming King of England does not seem really high on his priorties...

Charles, Prince of Wales has always been a fascinating figure to me, one of those highly intelligent, yet pampered and aristocratic individuals who seem to inherit everything, yet what do they do with it all? With the Prince it would seem, quite a lot. He would be the only figure in the entire British monarchy that would get any time at all from environmentalists, and he is treated like real royalty in the States, a position usually reserved for sport or entertainment celebrities. As the NYTimes reports, he has become a bit of a hero for the organic movement, and been at it awhile too.

One biography I read years ago had him asking a prominent spiritual teacher for initiation into a practice of yoga and meditation. He was politely refused as the story goes, with the explanation that his profile was just too great in this lifetime. Great story. Good guy. Who cares about the ears, or the personal issues (we all have them)! He actually has the resources to do something about changing our food production systems towards a more sustainable future and and walks the talk. Good for him. England doesn't need another King, but us food eaters and growers need a champion like him as a patron

On celebrity or whatever, I am sure Professor Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist was definitely having a good time in zero gravity playtime the other day, his mind no doubt racing through all the theories he has written about for so many years, while the body floated effortlessly. Brilliant. On to space for the wheelchair bound cosmologist!

Rain is falling lightly on our faire island today, and with what I can see around the world, I don't think you would catch me complaining too much about having the gift of plentiful water here in New Zealand. The hillsides are greening, the water tanks filling, and the essential ingredient for life making its way through the soil, bringing with it a nourishing mix of mystery and science.